


Mad Prince Rulf: More Offerings

by sglottalk



Series: Crown Prince Rulf [9]
Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Gen, Mother-Son Relationship, Post-Canon, graveyard, newlyweds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 01:57:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6137347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sglottalk/pseuds/sglottalk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"We're not going to burn offerings to just Yuri, mother."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mad Prince Rulf: More Offerings

"I'd like to join you," Laisa said to her son Rulf and new daughter-in-law Serena.

"You want to make an offering to Yuri too?" Rulf asked.

"No. But I would like to watch."

"Fine, whatever. I just want to tell them about Serena."

"Them?" Laisa asked.

"We're not going to burn offerings to just Yuri, mother."

***

Serena Vordarian had wanted a small, quiet wedding; Crown Prince Rulf had wanted to get married in the ImpSec headquarters designed by Dono Vorrutyer on the behalf of Emperor Yuri. They got a small, quiet wedding inside the former ImpSec Headquarters. Gregor and Laisa were relieved by the 'small, quiet' aspect of the wedding - they shuddered at the thought of what havoc Rulf would wreck at a large state wedding. Laisa hoped that, just maybe, Serena would be a good influence on Rulf.

On the surface, Serena seemed like a plain and uninteresting girl, but both her daughter Rebecca and her husband Gregor reported that there were depths beneath that surface. Laisa quickly found that her new daughter-in-law had an astute understanding of how the Vorbarra district government functioned. The new crown princess had quit her job at the Vorbarra Sultana Metropolitan Transit Agency before the wedding; Laisa was still trying to think of how to best make use of Serena's abilities. 

Princess Rebecca had been horrified that Serena was marrying her dreadful brother, and did not even show up for the wedding. The Vorkosigans, except Mark and Kareen, also refused to attend, in spite of being related to both the bride and the groom. Naturally, Prince Negri did not attend because he was not even on Barrayar. Prince Largon, Prince Padma, and Princess Elena had attended, though it had been very awkward for them. Rulf had laughed at their awkwardness.

Gregor and Laisa had also had a conversation with Mark about Rulf after the wedding.

"Isn't that normal?" asked Mark.

"What! Of course not!" exclaimed Laisa. "It's not normal for eleven-year-olds to face men trying to kill them!"

"Milady, most of the kids I grew up with were murdered when they were _twelve_. And he _is_ a prince on Barrayar."

"Is there anything you can suggest to help Rulf?" Gregor asked.

"If you want him to be 'normal', I am the last person you should be asking for advice," Mark said. "Personally, I think taking drugs is not such a bad response to being born a Vorbarra. Especially since he avoids the violently addictive junk like juba."

"It's not just the drugs," Gregor said. "He idolizes Mad Yuri."

"So get one of your other sons to be Crown Prince," Mark replied. "They aren't junkies, are they?"

***

Laisa was surprised to find that the first grave they visited was not that of Yuri Vorbarra, but of Kareen Vorbarra.

"The last woman to be Crown Princess before you. My grandmother." Rulf said. "What do you know about her, Serena?"

"Not much."

"Not even what was her favorite flower?"

"No."

"Azalea," Rulf replied. "Her family took her on horseback to Jade Mountain when she was a child. She loved the azaleas up there so much that her parents planted an azalea garden in their home the next year..."

Laisa had never heard that about her mother-in-law. Did Gregor know?

After Rulf and Serena burned an offering to Kareen, they went to the grave next to hers.

"I am going to burn an offering for grandpa Serg. He was Crown Prince, just like me," Rulf said. "It's fine if you don't, Serena. You know how he treated women."

Gregor and Laisa had told all of their children when they were old enough about Crown Prince Serg's sadistic behavior. Though they never shared with them the details, they did make it clear that what their grandfather had done was wrong. Apparently, Rulf had also told Serena.

Laisa was disturbed by the fact that Rulf was burning an offering for Serg, but did not interfere.

"You can burn a little of my hair," Serena said quietly. "He was your grandfather."

They burnt offerings at the grave of every Crown Prince and Crown Princess since the reign of Emperor Dorca. They then proceeded to burn a particularly elaborate offering for Emperor Yuri, and then his wife Empress Mireille. After that, they burned offerings for all of Yuri's siblings, including Prince Xav. They even burned an offering for Prince Xav's son.

At each grave, Rulf said something about what the deceased had been like in life. He even knew an anecdote about Crown Prince Anton, Yuri's grandson, who had died at the age of five. Laisa knew that Rulf had read a lot about the Vorbarra family, but had not realized he knew so much about all these people's lives, even the obscure princes and princesses.

Laisa was glad to see Rulf doing something personal with Serena. She had been concerned about the lack of intimacy between them. They had separate bedrooms in the Imperial Residence. According to ImpSec, they had not even held hands since the wedding ceremony, let alone kissed each other. But they had only been married for a few days. Perhaps it would be all right.

It then occurred to her that this activity was not for Serena. Or not just for Serena.

"You seem to care about them," Laisa observed, gesturing at the graves.

"Of course I do," Rulf said. "They're alive in my blood."

"You believe that?" Laisa asked.

"I talk to them, and I listen to them. After all, I am going to join them one day."

"Listen to them, as in, you hear their voices in your head?"

"Naturally," replied Rulf. "Yuri is the one I speak with the most."

Laisa had a scary vision of what the voice of Yuri might be saying in Rulf's head. She had never suspected that Rulf had this kind of mental illness. Who knew what other horror she would discover from her son...

"Don't you ever hear grandma Sylia's voice?" Rulf asked.

Laisa's mother, Sylia, had died some years earlier. "I sometimes imagine what she might _say_ about a situation," Laisa admitted.

"That's her voice," Rulf said.

Laisa was well aware of Barrayar's tradition of ancestor worship, but she had assumed it was merely a custom these days. Gregor only practiced it during formal occasions. She never anticipated that anyone in her son's generation, let alone her own son, would find a deeper meaning in it.

It was only after they returned from the graveyard that Laisa realized that Rulf had not burned an offering for Emperor Ezar.


End file.
